Buckhorn takes first swipe at Sulphur Springs home demolition

Tom Hull, a supervisor with Johnson's Excavation & Services, sprays water as a vacant house in the Sulphur Springs neighborhood is demolished on Tuesday. The tear-down is one of 51 planned to take place in Sulphur Springs over the next six months. JIM REED/STAFF

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Mayor Bob Buckhorn climbed aboard a front end loader Tuesday morning and, with some last-minute instructions from the driver, took the ceremonial first swipe at a Sulphur Springs home slated for demolition.
The tear-down is one of 51 demolitions the mayor plans to pursue in the Sulphur Springs neighborhood over the next six months. The plan is to clear out blighted homes and make way for new construction to revive one of the city's poorest neighborhoods.
Buckhorn calls the effort the Nehemiah project after a Biblical prophet who rebuilt Jerusalem's walls in 51 days.
"We are house by house, neighborhood by neighborhood going to rebuild our urban core, "Buckhorn said. "And we are going to start here in Sulphur Springs.